OTHER NATIONSSeveral other nations have been involved in space activities, either alone or in partnership with major spacefaring
nations. Many more nations partake in the use of
communications-satellite, weather-satellite, and Earth-resources-monitoring data from the space programs of the United States, Russia, and the ESA. In South America and Central America, Argentina makes use of small sounding rockets and has proposed a domestic communications satellite and a small scientific satellite for launch by NASA in the 1990s. Brazil also builds sounding rockets and is a major user of communications satellites, as is Mexico. It has joined in the International Space Station effort, as well.In Europe, Sweden is another frequent user of sounding rockets, and it develops its own satellites for polar ionospheric research. The former Czechoslovakia conducted significant work in space instrumentation and produced piggyback satellites for launching on Russian vehicles. The first person in space who was from neither the United States nor the Soviet Union was the Czech spaceman Vladimir Remek, a guest aboard a 1978 Soyuz flight.Elsewhere in the world, Israel initiated its own space program in 1988 and intends to develop reconnaissance satellites for use by its defense forces. Also in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia is a leading member of the ARABSAT communications satellite organization. The state of Indonesia is another major user of communications satellites, and its own satellites have been orbited by various space
organizations. Finally, Australia is the site of tracking facilities used by these organizations. It also once launched (1967) its own satellite, WRESAT, aboard a modified Redstone rocket from the Woomera test range, and it remains another major user of communications satellites.